Public Warning

More Laid-Back And Nightclub Than Raw And Roadhouse, This Third Disc From Montreal-Raised Ray Bonneville Shows Him To Be A Fluent Translator Of The Blues. Neither A Distinctive Vocalist Nor Guitarist, Bonneville Nevertheless Uses The Genre'S Building Blocks To Come Up With Songs Both Familiar And Fresh While He Maintains A Loose And Accessible Groove That Appeals To Both Pop And Blues Fans, Though Perhaps Not Purists. "Oh, It'S You" Is Hopelessly Melancholy, While The Title Track Is A Quiet Storm Of A Tune. "Canary Yellow Car" Is A Jaunty, Mandolin-Backed Kiss-Off Tale And Colin Linden'S Slide Guitar Adds A Note Of Regret To The Confessional "Foolish" And A Buzz Of Playfulness To Upbeat "The Changing Sky." With Titles Like "Don'T Look Back," "The Price To Pay," And "Gone Too Long," It Might Seem As Though Bonneville Has Nothing New To Say, But He Says It In Such A Pleasurable Way That It Hardly Matters. The Nashville-Recorded Gust Of Wind Won The Best Blues Album Juno Of 1999. --Shawn Conner